Stinkbug is now ten months old--as of ten days ago. In some ways, it feels like it has been FOREVER since he was born, forever since I had a day to myself, forever since I woke up to silence rather than cries, and forever since I didn't know what it felt like to be a mom. In other ways, it is absolutely paralyzing to think about how fast it feels like it is going. Planning began about a month ago for my bug's first birthday party. I'm keeping the theme under wraps for the moment. I have already spent over an hour handmaking the first invite. It will start going faster from here now.

                             A snapshot of my guy at ten months old: 

Personality:
He is stubborn. You can move him away from something (namely the entertainment center and all of those glorifying buttons and lights) 20 times and he will keep going back. He is learning what no means, as he pulls his hands back quickly if we walk towards him. He gets a minute or two in the playpen everytime he touches it. To him, this is utterly devastating. However, not quite devastating enough to keep him going in for another blissful button push. You can move him to another room, even handing him toys he hasn't played with in a long time, and he will head right back into the living room towards the entertainment center. His other blissful haven? The bathroom. He saw me unroll toilet paper and his eyes lit up. He was smitten. Now every time the door is open, he will speed crawl (while squealing) towards the door to stare at the toilet paper and to stand against the edge of the bathtub to stare longingly inside, wishing for water and a way to get into said water. He is also a total and complete ham. He adores strangers and squeals and yacks at them until he gets their full attention. Every great so often he has started playing shy and ducking his head into my shoulder; this lasts for about 5 seconds. Anything action that is followed by a laughter reaction is automatically repeated. He bumps his head; we laugh at his reaction. He does it again. He has started lying flat and laying his head on his arms in a dejected pose when he is frustrated. And, my, oh my, the fits. He started screaming (with a pouty lip) and kicking his legs when I would not feed him ice cream. He had no idea what it was, but he was pretty darn sure he wanted it. When I put it down and tried to pick him up, he slapped my hands away. I have a feeling that while I adore his huge personality now, it is going to make for some hellish toddler years. Oddly enough, I'm still looking forward to them. If we can all survive them, we can make it to the first Science project we get to do together! Sean and I can't wait! My only true lament at this point, he is STILL not sleeping through the night. He gets up 2-3 times a night to nurse. This will be ending shortly, as I have no plans to breastfeed forever and I refuse to give him anything that will cause tooth decay at night. He is a little yacker and yammers away all day. :)

Words:
Mama, Daddy, Hi, Dog, (He loves saying, "hi, dog!" to the dogs in the morning), ta-da, more, water, outside, cat, no-no, alligator, "oh, my gosh," "ada" (which is both grandma and grandpa), thank you, ice chest, diaper, bye-bye, and more I can't remember.

Favorite things:
Crawling away naked during diaper changes, his wooden stacker toy, cups full of water (or barley tea?), peekaboo, getting tossed in the air or "dropped," mirrors, baths, the dog kennels, any animal on God's green earth, and food of any kind, crawling, pulling up (on everything) (You have to be careful if you are wearing loose pants as he will pull up on pant legs), walking along furniture, talking, and doing anything dangerous (flinging himself face first off of steps).

I just can't get enough of that little boy. I love you, Stinkbug!!